What's The Best Discount/Freebie You've Gotten Just By Asking For It?

For all the complaints we read about stubborn customer service reps who refuse to offer discounts/rebates/refunds/etc to customers who believe they’ve been wronged, we get the occasional story of people who get these things just by going through the proper channels.

Just as an example, Consumerist reader Blair says he’s been an AT&T customer for four years. After looking over his wireless usage and comparing plans with the Death Star’s competition, he found he could get a better deal elsewhere.

He writes:

I called up customer support and indicated that I was interested in canceling my service. I was routed to Customer Resolution or something similar. Upon hearing that I’m out of contract and that I was seriously considering switching, the rep gave me two options: I could either receive my talk/text package free for the next 6 months (it’s $20/month), or she could take $10 off my bill for the remainder of the lifetime of my account. I chose the former option and, naturally, will probably switch after the discount has expired.

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I ordered some supplements from Bodybuilding DOT com. I ended up receiving a completely wrong order. I called customer service and they informed me to keep what I received and they would reship the correct stuff for free. I mentioned that what I ordered was something I needed ASAP. They upgraded the reship to Next Day Air. Sure enough, the next day I got my correct order. It defiantly doesn’t hurt to ask.

They have great customer service. I recently emailed BB dot com to notify of errors I was getting with BodySpace and how frustrating it was getting. 5 people responded to me personally. It eventually went up to Business Development Manager and he asked me for my mailing address so he could send me something. I wasn’t even complaining about a product or an item I had purchased. It was just a general complaint about site performance followed by a question on when things would be running again.

Monoprice has done the “keep it, and we’ll ship you the correct one” for me. Amazon has given me refunds with requiring the product back, but those were marketplace sellers so I’m not sure Amazon was out any money.

I’m going through a “thing” with Monoprice now. They shipped my stuff to the wrong ZIP code and UPS just dropped the package with a company in another state. The problem was definitely caused by a glitch in the Monoprice order system but at first they would only replace the order if I paid a second time for freight (almost $ 30). They relented but refused to upgrade the shipping (California to me is 5 days). They omitted certain items from the replacement order (at my request) but charged me for them anyway. Each step along the way I’ve had to send them half a dozen emails to straighten out the mess that they created. I spend thousands of $ a year with Monoprice and might just take my business elsewhere. Oh, and my credit card info was stolen as a result of their negligence a couple of years back so they are definitely on thin ice.

Several years ago I got free phone upgrades from Verizon (back when they still gave you phones for free with a contract) for all 7 phones that were on my account. Only one of them was eligible but because I simply asked for the upgrades the CSR gave them to me. I didn’t try to justify it or think I was entitled. I just simply asked. All of my employees were very happy to get shiny new phones.

Fubish says: I don't know anything about it, but it seems to me...says:

DirecTV pays for my HBO. They offered HBO for 3 months, when the promotion ended I sarcastically asked to keep HBO but they bill will have to pay the bill. To my surprise they agreed. That was over a year ago. Been a customer of Direct since 2001. It amazing what companies (reps) will do if you make them laugh within the first minute of a phone conversation.

As a kid:
Bought Borland Turbo C++ – which stated it was compatible with Windows 95. Turned out it didnt’ have the native Win95 libraries, so wrote the company.

Was sent a package with the latest full version of Borland C++ – which did have all the appropriate software.

As an adult:

Trapped in SFO as a result of a plane delay. Was absolutely starving, and realised that I could ask the airline agent for a meal voucher due to the adverse conditions. Without hardly any protestation, I was handed one and relieved my hunger free of charge.

Delta sometimes provides delayed passengers with meal vouchers (and hotel, on long delays) without even making them wait to speak with an agent – all you have to do is scan your boarding pass at one of the kiosks and the voucher(s) will print automatically.

I just can’t stand to watch people get abusive with CSR’s, so when I do see it happening I speak up, loudly and publicly about what an asshat the person is being. I am not a big scary guy, or a violent guy, but I have zero fear of creating a scene or publicly embarrassing myself or others.

My wife and I were once on a flight from Hawaii to the east coast when our layover in San Diego missed its connection. At 11pm at night. Obviously there is nothing the airline can do at 11pm to magically get planes there to carry people to their final destinations. We had been told they would give people meals and a hotel and re-book for first flights out in the morning.

Lo and behold, we de-board the plane and people are screaming at the gate agents. My wife and I are in the back of a line of people fighting with these poor agents. So I start yelling, making fun of the people for thinking the airline could do anything for them at this time, to shut up and take their vouchers. Suddenly one of the agents motions me to the side, gives us our vouchers and then announces “If anyone doesn’t want to complain and just wants to get your vouchers, come over here.”

Most recent one: Staying in nice Vegas 5 star resort with policy of charging half day for early/late check ins – we checked in 4 hours early without even asking (we just got there early) and also received 3 hour late checkout by asking nicely. – So 7 hours extra free = gotta be worth at least $150

I bought a Das Keyboard awhile back, which has a built-in two-port USB hub. Just days out of warranty, the USB hub failed. Knowing it was out of warranty, I emailed their tech support to ask if there was a way I could buy just the circuit board for the hub. (Since I am electronically inclined, I knew I could replace the circuit board myself.) After a couple days of hemming and hawing, they offered to just send me a new $135 keyboard.

Similar situation with Amex with my Costco rebate. I lost the check that comes in the Feburary statement and by this point it was already June. I called AMEX and asked if they could resend it and the CSR said don’t worry about it and just applied the full amount to that month’s statement.

Same thing happened with AT&T and their rebate gift cards however in that case I simply never received the prepaid card I was supposed to get. When I called to find out the status of it she just gave it to me as an instant credit on my account.

I know Sprint gets a hard rap, but I went through a period of unemployment in 2001 and called to cancel my service. I was apologetic and explained I’d liked the past three years with them, but had zero income to pay my bill. The CSR arranged for me to have three months payment-free. Sure enough, I got a job during that time and resumed paying for service soon after. They were loyal to me, and I’ve been a loyal customer since.

Many years ago I was waiting to check in at the Sands Hotel in Reno. The customer in front of me was giving the hotel clerk a bad time. When I got to her window she was still pretty flustered. I told her the guy had been a jerk and to take whatever time she needed checking me in. She thanked me and when she handed over a key she said she hoped I’d enjoy my room. I definitely did because it turned out to be a suite on the top floor with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city and a bubble tub in front of the windows.

I have had a pair of Bose QC2 headphones for about 6 years. Two years into ownership I dropped them off my desk and busted one of the ear piece brackets. I Called Bose wanting just the part so I could fix it myself. The tech said that that part should never have failed from a fall of that height and sent me a new pair within a few days.

1 – Nookie
2 – When I used to visit various bars, I would ask them to make a drink by name. If they couldn’t make it, or remember, then I would tell them how to do it if they gave it to me for free. I was playing to their cockiness when they told me that they could make any drink known to man. If I lost, I paid, but… I rarely lost. Helped to be a bartender in a past life.

Slow Comfortable Screw, against the wall, Hard or Mexican Style or 151 times, with a pillow… and a kiss

There is a right way to make this drink so that you don’t taste all of these alcohols or get sick. A good bartender will see the primary ingredients, and know what ingredient to add next, and what to lay on top of what.

Apple. Bought a refurb imac off their web store. Realized I couldn’t remember if I picked the trackpad or the mouse, which probably means I went with the default (the mouse), and I really prefer the trackpad. So I call them, and the rep says, “Oh. Well, it’s a refurb, so you actually get the regular wired mouse instead of the wireless trackpad or wireless mouse.” And then she just decides to overnight me a free trackpad, which retails for like $80. Didn’t even have to ask. Was really pleasantly surprised.

I wanted to give my sister a pistol shooting experience. I bought one for myself at a range near my home via a coupon site. I called a place near my sisters house, told them that I had one it near my home and wanted to provide her the same.
No further explanation, the guy gave me a 50% deal to match what I had gotten at the range near my house. And it was for a longer session with more shooting.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, I would dress well when flying and quite often I would score a first class upgrade. I realize few people pay for 1st class, but according to the airline published fares, that wider seat and the free drink was worth about 600 to 900 dollars in each direction.

Not necessarily a freebie, but I had asked DirecTV for a discount several times. In order to get it, I had to lose some channels, but I still maintained the service for when things got better.

Then I lost my job, and called to cancel. They let me put it on suspension. I didn’t even know they had that. It is up in November, but hopefully I’ll have a decent job by then. If not, they said they will let me extend it. They want me back.

I’ve been watching Netflix and using Roku, but I still miss being able to turn on the TV and flip around. >:(

Griffin (cases). I own an iPhone 4 bumper and iPad slim folio. I called up their CS about a problem with my bumper, it was coming apart (it’s plastic and rubber). I was told to email them photos and they would take care of me. The next business day I emailed the photos and also mentioned how my iPad folio case has strands coming apart at the seams but it’s by no way falling apart. They wrote me back and told me they’re sending me a new bumper and new iPad case.

Even better? The rep was so polite in email and on the phone and in conversation I noticed they didn’t make my bumper and that the iPad case had colors that weren’t available when I bought mine. He upgraded my bumper and when I asked about possibly getting a different color iPad case, I was told they sent them out too quickly (the next business day) but he would send me the new color as well. I then question him on how to send back the original colored case and he said to just keep both! I made sure to speak to a level above him and compliment on what an amazing rep they were.

Come to think of it, I wanted to submit this story to the site but never remembered to do it… until now!

I called AT&T to ask about the early termination fee, fully intending to cancel, and the retentions rep put me on an unadvertised, cheaper plan. I was pretty pleased that I was offered a lower rate and decided against changing carriers. However, I got a text about a week later saying I needed to upgrade my messaging or data plan in order to stay on this plan, pretty much negating my savings.

I was purchasing a mountain bike from Sports Authority (don’t judge, it was the nicest model they carried – I don’t need a $2K bike – and was $200 cheaper than buying direct from manufacturer).

The associate in the bike department made some promises about a promotion that he couldn’t keep. I was supposed to have until the end of the week to get $100 cash back and a steeply discounted sale price. Told him I wanted to do a little more research but would be in by the end of the week to purchase most likely. Came in 2 days later and the bike was marked up $150 more and the “cash back” promotion was reduced to $20 only.

Had a quick call with their corporate office explaining how I felt that 1) their employees should keep their mouth’s shut about promotions if they have no authority to uphold their promises, and 2) the price hike seemed oddly specific considering I told the associate I would be back to purchase and the online price didn’t change at all.

Got the bike for the original discounted price plus $150 in gift cards. I think I was successful by intimating that my wife and I are young and participate in plenty of outdoor activities, and becoming loyal to Dick’s Sporting Goods would not be that hard of an adjustment.

I flew Continental Airlines in 2001, right before 9/11, on a cross-country trip to San Francisco. At 6’2″, it was really hard for me to get comfortable in economy seats even back then, and I was really not looking forward to several hours of cramped hell. I was talking to a flight attendant and said something like “if only there were open seats in first class (sadface).” She told me to hold on, then came back a few minutes later and asked me to come with her. Only time I’ve ever flown first class, and it was quite nice.

Just some food for thought, everyone in this country wants something for free or severely discounted or they think they are being ripped off. Companies are just trying to run a business. But then you have people complaining when all our jobs are going overseas because labor is cheaper. I mean we can keep forcing companies to give us better and better deals but in the long run we are only shooting ourselves in the foot. Nothing is free. Someone had to work to build that product you want for nothing. It’s really a step above stealing because in the end it’s still coming out of some innocent person’s pocket. I really believe this is half the reason our economy is stalling. Just try selling something on Craiglist. People on there want something for next to nothing. Same mentality and it’s killing our country.

And who do you think taught everyone to behave this way? That would be the amoral, subethical corporate culture. The one that justifies everything by saying, “its just business,” or “we have to make a profit”. Our humanity has been stripped away slowly over the years through victimization of those with less power. The power of the wallet is non-existent.

Um, if you noticed, most of these stories are from people either getting the wrong order initially, being promised a deal that didn’t exist, or something unexpectedly broke and the company was happy to replace it. The people posting paid for a product, didn’t get it, so the company did the right thing ,and still got their money.

I was given a Gladiator Garageworks tool caddy as a Christmas gift. When I went to open it, I noticed some of the rubber coating on the tool bag hanger was torn. Not a huge issue since it was on the back of the unit, but I figured I would email them to see if I could get a replacement hook.

They asked for pictures which I provided, and they said they would send a replacement. Few days later replacement unit shows up – the entire tool caddy with bag and everything. They didn’t even want the old one back… and they retailed for something like $80 at the time.

So when it was time to buy more organizers and cabinets for my garage guess who got my business? You guessed it… Gladiator (Whirlpool).

The NFL Sunday Ticket and Red Zone Channel this season. I called DirecTV in order to non-renew the Sunday Ticket. When asked why, I explained I was taking some time off from work and needed to cut back on expenses for a couple of months. I didn’t ask her to give me the channels for free, mind you.

Anyway, she put me on hold (I assume while she looked at my account history), thanked me for buying the MLB and NFL packages for the past 5 years and offered me the Sunday Ticket and RZC for free this year.

A couple of years ago Edible Arrangements did a Facebook promotion which offered you a free box of chocolate dipped fruit. I signed up for mine and arrived at the store at 4:50- 10 minutes before their closing time- to find the place locked up. I called the store when I got home and said “listen, I know it was a free box of fruit, but I drove 20 minutes out of my way to pick it up, and it was a bummer that you guys were closed.” The next day a free, HUGE dipped fruit arrangement was delivered to my house with the owner’s apologies. I checked online and the arrangement they sent me was over $100- and they delivered it 45 minutes away from their home store.

Emagine theater. Me and my friends with to see Resident Evil: Retribution. I hadn’t eaten yet, so I ordered some Bosco sticks at the concession counter. The guy said none were ready yet, and I had paid ,so he said come back in five minutes, so we went to our seats, and I went back out to get my food. It was ready, and I decided I wanted some candy too, the manager was there and said since I had to wait to just get a few boxes free.

Hexbug. I have bought myself the spiral ramp habitat, which came with only one spiral ramp, and some one way gates. I couldn’t use the gates as it was, and the bugs kept getting stuck on each other on the ramp. Plus the battery in one ran out fast.

So I sent an email. They asked for my address. A few days later I got a pack which had two more spiral ramps and three packs of free batteries as well as some stickers.

Not quite a freebie, but I did get Alltel to fund the mail-in rebate (meaning I didn’t have to mail it in first) after I had to stand in 3 2-hour lines because they told me my new phone would arrive on a Saturday (it didn’t), and that it would have a hands-free headset (it didn’t). This was when Cellular One was transitioning to Alltel. They didn’t offer me anything at all for my trouble, so I asked for this. They told me no, but eventually relented when they saw I was serious about it.

Was in northern Thailand backpacking in 1991. Called home and found out dad was diagnosed with cancer and in grim shape. I explained this to the airline ticket lady on Korean Airlines and she swapped out my existing ticket and upgraded me to First Class so I could get on the next flight. I was the only 22 year old wearing shorts & flip flops (and 5 months’ tan) in the First Class section. It was a tough time and I really appreciated it.

I got USAA to waive a returned check fee. In this day and age, I couldn’t fathom paying my bank a fee because someone else’s account didn’t have enough money in it. Thankfully, they removed the fee in seconds.

There’s the cable internet discounts by threatening to switch to U-verse.

I asked my electric company to match the rate of a competitor and was given an unpublished rate that was even better.

You pretty much just have to ask and be willing to call their bluff if they don’t give you the discount. Unless you’re at Wal-mart, or Target, or something – then shutup and pay.

I am an extremely good customer at the CVS only a block or two from my house
and once their computer goofed putting my 25% off coupon on my loyalty card
for a weekend use. I just explained to the cashier what happened and he happily
used his manager override keyfob and took off the 25%. So store loyalty does
count for something sometimes.

I just called AT&T about the bad cell service in my house, ready to cancel my plan. They waved the fee for a femtocell. Nice, thanks!

Many months ago, in the spirit of saving money I asked what we can do about the bill being too high for me. We changed a few packages and moved stuff around so that it was a good price, but then the day I called about the bad service I noticed that I had racked up almost 15k in unused rollover minutes!! WHAT? As it turns out, one of the packages I added months ago was a family messaging plan that also included free mobile to any mobile calls and we so rarely call land lines that we never used billed minutes. So we brought the main plan down one level, $10 a month, and got that MtoAM feature for free for 6 months, $30 a month, and after asking nicely and being polite, I got to save all my rollover minutes. Priceless.

I’ve been with AT&T and previously cingular, and will be a happy customer for a long time.

On the other side of this I’m dealing with the evil ebay/paypal crap! I sold something, was paid with paypal, HAND DELIVERED it to the customer, got positive feedback, but since I don’t have a tracking number associated with the transaction they’re holding the payment 21 days.

I was polite at first, calling both ebay and paypal, but neither would help me. I finally hung up angry with them. They suck and I’ll be leaving them soon.

I doubt this counts, but I applied for a job at a small cell phone repair shop last week. They had a display case of old phones, including a bitsy little flip phone(a pantech c300- http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uLEKmNwHElk/STQieuenJAI/AAAAAAAAAA0/SwEK2wyTnfA/s400/31884398-2-440-palm-2.gif, one of which I’ve always secretly wanted because tiny things are cute and I’m a girl). I asked the guy if it was for sale & he said its just for display, but he’d let me have it for $5. He took it to the back room to test it and he came back saying he had no idea if it worked cause they didn’t have a charger, and then said I could just HAVE it! I squee’d. Anyway, I ordered a cheap charger off Amazon, plugged it in, and to my delight it turned on right away & worked perfectly.

Such a simple little gift, but it made me very happy. I now have a very pocketable backup phone for occasions when I don’t want to lug my Galaxy Note around. My boyfriend & I went to the state fair this past saturday & for obvious reasons it’s not a good idea to bring a $700 phone to such a place. I took the tiny phone & had a blast. Got a lot of looks when I whipped it out to take pictures of the baby animals though, lol :3

A few years back, I had a really negative experience with CS rep for Disney when I called to ask a question about our trip to Disney World. I e-mailed Disney thinking nothing would come of it but they called and e-mailed me, apologized, asked for details on my experience, and gave me Disney Dollars on my trip ($50).

I had a pair of pliers and the spring thingy broke – it seemed like a simple fix so I contacted the company to order one and instead they sent me a totally new replacement pair. They were jewelry pliers so they weren’t cheap (like $35 for the pair – not the most expensive but nice midrange). So that company now has a customer for life (I ordered 2 more pairs from them after that) because they totally went above and beyond as far as I am concerned.

I ate at a seafood restaurant a couple of weeks ago, and got clams, and subsequently spent the night vomiting. I don’t blame the restaurant – sometimes you just get a bad clam and there’s nothing they can do about it. Still, I emailed them to let them know, even saying “I don’t blame you or anything, I just thought you’d like to know”. They immediately called me to talk and overnighted me a $50 gift card.

A few years back I placed an online order from Super Circuits, a vendor of security / surveillance video components. I was a returning customer placing (at the time) my largest order with them for about $700 worth of cameras and lenses for a new business I was opening.

In the online order form there was a comments box and I innocently typed in “Please send me some free stuff” .. I expect at most to get some stickers or an odd sized T-shirt (X-medium?)…

5 days later a HUGE box shows up at my shop with, judging by similar models for sale on their site, about $3500 worth of high end cameras and lenses. I called the sales rep assigned to me and he verified the shipping address, packing list, and charges for what I ordered but couldn’t provide comment on the extras, and would check in to it and call me back – we both assumed an order had been mis-shipped to my address.

The next week I get an email from him saying not to worry about the extra cameras, they didn’t show any loss of inventory and no one had any outstanding orders for anything remotely resembling the products I received. He said it was likely that the shipping department saw the “free stuff” note and tossed in various engineering and product samples that had been cluttering up their warehouse (one of the camera had a manufacture date of 1998, this was in 2008) and to enjoy anything that works, and thanks for being a customer.

Several years ago, I decided I would use some of my frequent flyer miles for an upgrade to First Class on a cross-country flight. I called the airline’s FF number to make sure that the flights I was about to book online were ones I’d be able to get the upgrade on. The agent typed for a bit, and told me that, sadly, the answer was “no”. “However” … more typing … “we can upgrade you for free.” And they did. Mind you, I did not have any kind of elite status.

Many times in small amounts, which adds up. Whenever a product does not last a resonable amount of time, I go after a refund/replacment. I save all receipts, especially Home Depot/Lowes etc, as most of their items are of poor quality. In fact, I had 2 toilet seats, 1 year old, and the satin chrome finish flaked off, and one of the bumpes on the bottom broke off, So I removed them, cleaned them of course, put in clear plastic trash bags, and took back to store. I did not get a refund then, but after writing to corportate office, I was told to bring them to the store manager for replacment. I just expect things to last a reasonable amount of time. Leslie Pool Supply, I bought a new pool vacuum head, these things typically will last 5 years or more. This one lasted 13 months, when the bristles started breaking off in bunches. Clerk refused refund/replacement, wrote for corporate with my complaint and expectations of the product, and I got a store credit. You don’t get if you don’t ask, and keep asking. I should not have to buy everything again, every year due to poor quality. These companies will not know they are selling junk unless you bring it to their attention. So Ask!

I called up Rubbermaid to just gush about their new Rubbermaid pitchers. I’ve never seen such a great product! Every plastic pitcher I’ve ever bought or owned always leaked when it was tipped partially upside down to shake it to ensure all powder particles mixed thoroughly. This had such a wonderful seal that even when banging against my leg there was NO leak! I was surprised. I called them up just to say thanks for making a wonderful product. They thanks me for calling and asked if I want to be put on the coupon mailing list. I said sure. I gave my name and address and a week later I received a $10 Rubbermaid coupon in the mail good off any Rubbermaid product. I took my time and eventually chose a cereal saver and a food saver. I am now a Rubbermaid fan for life, especially when it comes to my kitchen!